Three candidates seek Cheney City Council seat to address growth, infrastructure and water issues

A United States airman, a retired firefighter and a software engineer are competing for a seat on the Cheney City Council to tackle issues related to water infrastructure and local economy.

Rebecca Long, a 41-year-old software engineer, moved to Cheney for college in 2002. Long said she hopes to take her first government position after losing her first city council race to an incumbent two years ago.

Long said she’d focus on bringing transparency to the Cheney government, which she said is currently lacking. She said the city should have a Facebook page to keep citizens updated.

“I feel that we would do better if we had more transparency on certain items to get civic engagement and more voices at the table,” Long said. “It’s really one of my passion areas at the moment.”

Long said Cheney needed to address longstanding issues with low water pressure in some parts of town and sediment build up in others.

“I can’t find anybody who can tell me why we haven’t fixed it,” Long said. “It could just be that it’s just such a big problem and the infrastructure is too old and we can’t afford it, but I haven’t got anyone to tell me that.”

Long also said her work experience as a software engineer helps bring a technological skill set to the city council.

“I can bring in some innovative ideas,” Long said. “We have a bunch of interesting problems out in Cheney, and I feel like I can help try and creatively problem-solve to help our community move forward.”

Long also wants Cheney to have an active planning commission, building up the city’s relationship with Eastern Washington University to make students feel welcome and keeping low-income housing.

“We’ll make sure that people can stay in Cheney, make sure it’s affordable, make sure that we can keep folks housed,” Long said. “Spokane has a homeless problem. I don’t want to see that out here in Cheney.”

Tim Steiner, a 56-year-old firefighter who recently retired, has lived in Cheney throughout most of his life. Steiner said his work experience makes him qualified for the position.

“I’ve worked my way up to battalion chief in the department,” Steiner said. “I’ve got leadership skills and can help muster people and organize people and get things happening that way.”

On top of advocating for increased public safety, Steiner said he would also promote “smart growth,” which he described as growing the city’s economy without losing its family-focused feel.

“We need to make sure that it’s a good, safe community for families and in a place that people look at and go, ‘Oh that’s a community I want to live in. It’s beautiful and safe and that’s where I want to raise my family,’ ” Steiner said.

Steiner said he’d promote economic growth through bringing more businesses to Cheney’s industrial park. He said it would also create more jobs, which the city needs as it sees an influx of new residents seeking low-cost housing.

“We just need to find the ways to go out and court those companies and bring them to Cheney to show them what a great family atmosphere and community that they could have their business in,” Steiner said.

Steiner also said more work needs to be put into maintaining the city’s infrastructure and address water issues .

“I’ve moved away a couple of times for school and for short-term jobs, but I always made my way back to Cheney because it’s such a great place,” Steiner said. “I just want to help do my part to make sure we have a great community for decades to come.”

Shawn Ricketson is a system administrator for the U.S. Air Force and sits on the city’s planning commission. Attempts to reach Ricketson individually and through the planning commission were unsuccessful.

The deadline to return primary ballots for the Cheney City Council is Aug. 5 at 8 p.m. Ballots will be mailed out as soon as Wednesday. The deadline for voter registration is July 28.